Mcdonogh

A players-only meeting, some serious offensive tinkering and the emergence of midfielders Brian Hess (McDonogh), Pat Corbett and Alex Drake has led Lehigh to a 12-4 finish. It's placed them in a position to do what they failed to do last year — win the first NCAA tournament game in program history. "The seniors met; then we had a team meeting. I always knew we had the talent and the guys on the field capable of getting the job done. Guys had to believe in themselves. We needed to call guys out and we needed more out of guys; we've done that," attackman David DiMaria said of the team meeting after Lehigh's 6-4 loss to Massachusetts on March 20. "We thought we arrived last year, and the plan was to remain," coach Kevin Cassese said.

McDonogh's No. 1 girls lacrosse team is now within one game of its ultimate goal after Thursday's 17-10 victory over No. 9 Maryvale in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference semifinals. The victory runs the Eagles' winning streak to 90 games and sends them after their fifth straight A Conference championship Saturday at 5 p.m. at Gerstell Academy in Finksburg against No. 4 St. Paul's, a 12-9 winner over Bryn Mawr in the other semifinal on Wednesday. Because of thunderstorms rolling near their Owings Mills campus Wednesday, the Eagles had to wait an extra day for their semifinal, but they took a 16-4 lead five minutes into the second half and cruised into the title game.

With thunderstorms in the area expected to linger until after sunset, the coaches of No. 1 McDonogh and No. 9 Maryvale postponed their IAAM A Conference girls lacrosse semifinal until tomorrow at 4 p.m. The teams waited about 30 minutes past the 4:30 p.m. start time Wednesday, but a storm lingered nearby. McDonogh coach Chris Robinson and Maryvale coach Jessica Randisi agreed that they did not want to start the game and be forced to stop if another storm rolled past McDonogh's Owings Mills campus.

As a long-stick midfielder for the No. 2 McDonogh boys lacrosse team, senior Eric Levin has had a season filled with tests. They come regularly in practice when he goes up against teammates Austin Frederick and Brinton Valis. They continue in games where every Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference foe has a quality attackman that draws his attention. "At this level, every week I'm playing against a top-notch midfielder and that only serves to make me better.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual stroke play golf tournament had been within reach for the Mount St. Joseph senior in his first three years. He finished third as a freshman and sophomore before placing second last spring. This year, tied with the defending champion, Archbishop Spalding's Chris Navarro, and with McDonogh's Rij Patel one shot behind going into the final hole of the three-day event on April 29, Long wasn't going to be denied again. His par on the final hole completed a final round 4-over-par 74 for a three-day total of 221, giving Long the elusive title by one stroke over each opponent at Baltimore Country Club's East Course in Lutherville.

The North Harford boys lacrosse team captured its first Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship Monday. The Hawks, aided by a 12-2 scoring advantage over the final three quarters, beat Rising Sun, 17-5, at James R. Harris Stadium in Havre de Grace. "It's been a great year - the balls bounced our way," North Harford coach John Grubb said. On Monday, the bounces led to Max Mullin's first of a game-high five goals. Mullin finished the quarter with three goals, leading North Harford to a 5-3 advantage.

McDonogh senior goalie Nick Doyle was playing in his final lacrosse game at home Tuesday against rival Gilman with the winner receiving a prized first-round bye in the upcoming Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. It was pouring for much of the game and his area in front of the cage was mostly mud. Doyle showed it was nothing he couldn't handle. He finished with 14 saves, blanked the visitors for a pivotal 20-minute stretch that included the entire third quarter and helped lead No. 2 McDonogh to a 10-6 over the No. 3 Greyhounds in the regular season finale for both teams.

Boys lacrosse No. School Record Prev.   1.Boys' Latin 17-0 1 2. McDonogh 13-3 3 3. Gilman 12-2 4 4. Calvert Hall 9-5 5 5. St. Paul's 13-3 2 6. Hereford 13-2 6 7. Loyola 10-7 7 8. South River 12-2 9 9. Westminster 14-0 10  10. Arch. Spalding 11-9 11 11. St. Mary's 6-8 8 12. Arundel 13-1 12 13. Glenelg 12-2 15 14. Severn 9-10 14 15. Centennial 12-2 - Other teams considered: Bel Air (8-3)

The Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference girls lacrosse tournament gets underway in a few hours and, while No. 1 McDonogh is the overwhelming favorite, there could be a few surprises. Consider that four of the top A Conference teams were upset in their regular-season finales. No. 2 St. Paul's fell to No. 15 North Harford, 12-11; No. 7 Maryvale lost to No. 14 Archbishop Spalding, 12-10; No. 9 Severn lost to Notre Dame Prep, 15-13, in overtime; and No. 13 Mount de Sales lost to Catonsville, 13-12.

McDonogh's Miranda McCoy said her No. 1 Eagles learned an important lesson in Monday's scare at No. 5 Century - they don't want to get off to a slow start. The Eagles applied that lesson in Thursday's clash of the area's only two undefeated girls lacrosse teams, scoring three goals in the first two and a half minutes to spark a 19-9 victory over No. 6 Marriotts Ridge for their 88 t h straight victory. Those three early goals from Megan Whittle, Casey Black and Grace Muller were the opposite of what happened Monday at Century, when the Knights scored the first three goals and the Eagles had to rally for a 10-7 win. "We came out flat mentally against Century," McCoy said.